The Phillies could add a bat soon, the Dodgers probably aren't done spending, and information about the lead-up to the Royals-Rays blockbuster is coming to light.

A busy weekend gave way to a lethargic Monday: Apart from the Twins reaching a two-year deal with Kevin Correia, the transactions wire was completely dormant. As we await more action, here’s a glance at two recent developments and a look back at the lead-up to the weekend’s most polarizing trade.

A-ROD BRACES FOR SURGERY“I am fully committed to a very hard road back. We've done it before in '09 and it was a great result, both on a personal level and on a team level, more importantly. I take it as a great challenge and I'm excited for the challenge.”
—Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who will have surgery on his left hip in January and could be out until the All-Star break. (ESPN.com)

Major League Baseball clubs often pride themselves on being aggressive on the basepaths. While the scope of this article isn’t to examine whether this strategy helps win ballgames, we can say with absolute certainty that being aggressive on the bases is the favored approach among fantasy owners. Stolen bases can be difficult to come by, so finding unexpected sources of steals can make a big difference for a team looking to win a championship.

One way to come across such bargains is to look at players who are changing teams, going from one with a passive organizational philosophy to one with an aggressive philosophy. Lotsofteamsclaimto be aggressive, but as with most things in this game, you can’t always take people at their word or reputation.

Each offseason—and occasionally during the season, especially in July—clubs acquire proven big-league players by sending prospects to their tango partners as part of the return. There already have been a handful of such trades since the end of the 2012 season, and there are numerous rumors suggesting more could be in the offing.

If an extra two wins or an extra two dozen strikeouts will make a big difference in your standings, here's where to look.

Over the past week, I’ve discussed the importance of prioritizing categorical impact over raw value with the season nearing an end. At this point I think I’ve given the concept more press than Psy is getting, and while "Gangnam Style" becomes no less brilliant play after play, I fear me talking anymore about this would have the opposite effect. So, I’ll simply point you towards my one-category contributor articles for saves and homers and steals and invisible horse dance my way onto the meat of today’s article...

Wins
The best strategy when chasing wins is to play the match-ups, if you have the luxury of doing so in leagues with daily transactions and/or deep-ish free agent pools. Ideally, you’ll target pitchers with good skills and potent offenses who are facing weak offenses. Mixing and matching is almost certain to be better than rolling with a single starter come hell or high water. Still, if you need to for whatever reason, here are a few to consider.

Have teams really made million-dollar deadline decisions based on two starts? And if they have, can we figure out which ones they were?

"I think the one thing you might be able to get someone to dream on—it's amazing to me, continually, how often trades are made based on the last two starts," one American League personnel director told Mackey. "So if he can put together a couple of starts in the next couple of weeks...” (Source)

Presume that this personnel director talking to Minnesota ESPN radio host/writer Phil Mackey about Francisco Liriano wasn’t misquoted. Presume that he wasn’t exaggerating wildly in order to entertain Mackey. Presume that he’s not insane. Presume that he’s telling the truth, and that, at least once, a team has made a trade based on the last two starts. The question, then, is this: Which trade?

If it doesn't look like a Twin, soft-toss like a Twin, or pitch to contact like a Twin, it's probably not a Twin.

Francisco Liriano throws hard. He misses bats. He also misses the strike zone. In other words, he's never seemed much like a Minnesota Twin. Still, we went along with his act, as long as he wore the uniform and from time to time let Ron Gardenhire tell him to pitch to contact. But on Friday night, he completely blew his cover, striking out 15 batters in a loss to the A's. Fifteen batters! That's more than Nick Blackburn strikes out in most months​.

Welcome to the Three Best Pitches Thrown This Week. There are many more than three pitches featured here. They also extend beyond this week, in one case to a time that predates many of your favorite things: The Wire​,​ and all varieties of Skittles, and every dog currently alive. You might consider this a flaw, but we consider it bonus material, and no refunds will be given. Enjoy the Three Best Pitches Thrown This Week.

We’re roughly 20 percent of the way through the 2012 baseball season, and I have to file a column for Wednesday. That means that it’s the perfect time to take a look at this year’s leading out-of-the-gate over- and underachievers!